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Stories

The big engines are teasing Edward that he will not be allowed out because he is too weak, but when the driver sees him upset he offers to take him out. Edward goes to get some coaches, and, after a few moments of panic waiting for the guard, they start off and Edward has an enjoyable day.

Gordon is bragging about pulling the express, but when Edward is shunting Gordon comes past with a long goods train. Gordon deliberately stalls at a hill and Edward comes as a "banker." At the top of the hill, Gordon races ahead and Edward gets puffed out, but is pleased at the prospect of a new coat of paint.

One rainy day, Henry stops in a tunnel and refuses to move. His crew, the passengers, another engine and even the Fat Director try to get him to move, but to no avail. Eventually, they have him bricked up, and they bore a new tunnel.

Gordon is pulling the Express when he bursts his safety valve outside Henry's tunnel. Edward tries to pull the train, but cannot. The Fat Director lets Henry out of the tunnel so that he and Edward can pull the train. They later help Gordon home, and Henry is rewarded with a new blue coat.

An illustration from The Sad Story of Henry was released as a Royal Mail stamp in 2011 to mark the Reverend Awdry's Centenary.

The book was released digitally for Apple products on 11 May 2012.

A 70th Anniversary print was released on 16 April 2015.

The fourth illustration of Edward's Day Out features a coach without a front coupling. Awdry explained that one of the big engines was pulling the coaches so roughly that the coupling fell off. When Edward arrived to collect the coaches, they had not fitted a new coupling and hook. This took some time, so the guard went off home to his "elevenses." This also explains as to why Edward was waiting for his guard.

Edward and Gordon is based on the real life events of trains stalling on the Lickey Incline near where the Awdry family lived in King's Norton.

The Sad Story of Henry was based on a real event in the 19th century where an engine broke down in a tunnel in America and was left inside.

The BBC originally tried to adapt The Sad Story of Henry for television in 1953 using 00 gauge models, but it did not fare well. One of the points had not been set so Henry derailed, and as this was during the days of live television, the viewers (including the publisher Eric Marriot) were surprised to see a large hand pick up the train and place it back on the rails.

Dalby drew James in place of the unnamed Red Engine that tried to push Henry out of the tunnel in The Sad Story of Henry, but children mailed Awdry letters asking why James was red before he was black in the following book, so Awdry decided to make the Red Engine a different character altogether.

The events of this book took place between 1922 and 1923.

Goofs

In the first illustration of Edward's Day Out, Gordon, 98462 and 87546 have yellow stripes instead of red ones.

In the second and third illustrations of Edward's Day Out, a post appears between 87546 and Gordon.

In the third illustration of Edward's Day Out, Gordon is missing his tender.

In the fourth illustration of Edward's Day Out, Edward collects three coaches, but in the next illustration, he has five coaches with him.

In Edward's Day Out, the shed has six berths, but in the first illustration of Edward and Gordon, the shed has seven berths.

Throughout the book Henry loses and gains trailing wheels. His correct wheel arrangement is 4-6-2.

As Henry runs into the tunnel Edward puffs through the other bore. However, when the passengers attempt to pull Henry out Edward is still puffing along in the direction he first came.

It is stated that a second bore was dug after Henry was shut up, but in all the illustrations prior there were two bores shown.

In the final illustration a man paints the top of Henry's tender, from ground level. Others are painting his boiler, but they are standing on his valence.

In the final illustration Gordon has circular buffers.

Gordon's steampipes continuously disappear and re-appear.

Gordon is portrayed as already having LMS running gear, square buffers and a six-wheel Fowler tender.

In the second illustration of Edward's Day Out, Gordon's boiler is shorter than it should be.

In the first illustration of Edward, Gordon and Henry, Gordon's buffers are black instead of white.